Greta Small

Fast Facts

Sport: Alpine Skiing
Events: Alpine Combined, Super-G, Downhill
Olympic History: Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Beijing 2022
Highlights: Olympic Personal Best in Alpine Combined at Beijing 2022
Year Born: 1995
State Born: Victoria

About Greta

Hailing from the small country Victorian town of Porepunkah, with a population of less than 1,000, Greta Small is an example of how you can chase your dreams no matter where you come from.

She started skiing at 18 months with her family at Mount Buffalo, Victoria. This early exposure helped her become a regular fixture on the podium from a young age at interschool competitions.

In 2012 she was selected to compete at the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria. At the event she finished seventh in the slalom and super-g events, and 13th in the giant slalom and combined.

That appearance was closely followed by her World Championships debut where she was the second youngest in the field. Later in the 2013 season, she claimed silver in super-g at the Junior World Championships and bronze in slalom.

When Sochi 2014 came around, 18-year-old Greta became the first Australian to compete in all five alpine events at an Olympic Games. At the time she was still considered a junior and had not yet specialised in a particular event.

Unfortunately in the year following her Olympic debut, Greta tore her ACL while competing in Japan. A gruelling 12 months of rehab later she made her return to international competition in late 2016 - only to once again tear her ACL at a Pyeongchang Olympic test event in January 2017.

With 12 months between Greta’s second ACL reconstruction surgery and the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, she attacked her rehab and made a return to competition - which was no small feat.

As a result of the injuries Greta chose to focus on speed events for PyeongChang 2018. Most impressively, her 20th place finish in downhill was Australia’s best result by a woman in the discipline at an Olympic Winter Games. She also competed in the super-g and alpine combined.

Greta recorded multiple Personal Best results throughout the 2018-19 season, including a 20th place finish at the 2019 World Championships. However, March 2019 brought another setback for Greta as she was involved in a major crash at training which resulted in her third ACL tear.

She made her return in Europe during early 2021 and consistently moved up the ranks in speed events, capping off the season with a career-best 15th at the 2021 World Ski Championships.

Greta competed in her third Olympic Games at Beijing 2022, with the major highlight coming in the alpine combined where she placed 13th - her best ever result in the Olympic alpine combined event.

"13th place, I'm stoked, that's my best ever result, but I'm still hungry for more," Greta said.

"I know I've got a lot more to give in me and this is not the end. It's not that last you have seen of Greta Small that's for sure."

After her performance at Beijing she was voted in as one of 10 members to the AOC Athletes' Commission.